PNB declares 6 sen income distribution for ASB2, 5.5 sen for ASM

KUALA LUMPUR: Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) has declared an income distribution of six sen per unit for Amanah Saham Bumiputera 2 (ASB2) and 5.5 sen per unit for Amanah Saham Malaysia (ASM) for the financial year ending March 31, 2019.

PNB chairman Tan Sri Dr Zeti Aziz said ASB2 would distribute a total payout of RM610.7 million to its 404,706 unitholders who own a total of 10.4 billion units while ASM would distribute a total payout of RM1.1 billion to 541,758 unitholders with a total of 19.5 billion units.

“As at Feb 28 this year, ASB2 recorded a net realised income of RM500 million, while ASM recorded a net realised income of RM800 million,” she said when announcing the funds' income distribution here today.

She also said that the three variable price funds, namely ASN Equity 3, ASN Imbang 2 and ASN Sara 1, have declared an income distribution of 4.10 sen per unit, 4.20 sen per unit and 5.00 sen per unit, respectively.

The total income distribution for all three funds, which amounted to RM236.1 million, would benefit 220,188 unitholders.

There would be a temporary suspension of transactions for all five funds at all branches until March 2019 to facilitate the computation of income distribution, and transactions will resume on April 1.

Meanwhile, Zeti said PNB's investment strategy going forward is diversification and it would look at opportunities in both advanced and emerging economies, albeit in a gradual manner.

“We will not rush into it because we need to build up our expertise and monitor these markets, as well as engage with other investment corporations.

“PNB will always perform our function as a responsible investor and we are not going to contribute to any disruptive movements in our domestic market or to any of our strategic investments in companies,” she added.

The challenging economic environment in 2018 with moderating growth and uncertain financial markets in both the global and domestic economic and financial environment has affected the performance of Malaysia's corporations including PNB.

Nevertheless. PNB's total Assets Under Management (AUM) increased by 6.9 per cent to RM298.5 billion, from RM279.2 billion in the previous year.

Commenting on the outlook for the local stock market, chief executive officer Datuk Abdul Rahman Ahmad expressed confidence that it would eventually reflect the strength of the Malaysian economy, which is anticipated to grow between 4.3 per cent and 4.9 per cent this year.

“Fundamentally, we believe the economy is strong and we remain optimistic over the medium term,” he added. - Bernama